Agreed expectations
Have an early and honest conversation about what you and your daughter are expecting from their final year. Understanding your daughter’s motivations and their hopes will ensure you’re all on the same page, with the same priorities. The focus of course is on their academic journey and there will be lots of discussion around options for their post school pathway. However, it is important to establish some clear guidelines around how they plan to manage their time e.g. How many part-time hours will they work? How much time will they socialise on the weekend? How will they organise their extra-curricular commitments in a busy year of study? Opening communication on these topics early will hopefully help avert stress when the demands on their time starts to build.
Start good habits early
Year 12 content is generally taught across three terms, this means that by early September your daughter will have mostly finished their assessments and work requirements for each subject. Unlike other years, Year 12 requires a proactive start and the quick development of good organisational practices and homework routines. Subject teachers are best placed to advise on how to create an effective habit of study for each subject while a Head of House is always a good resource for planning how students can more broadly manage a range of responsibilities.
Positive relationships with staff
Our Year 12 students will work closely in partnership with their teachers throughout the year. This relationship is essential to supporting your daughter in achieving her best. Open communication is important from the outset, and we will always encourage our students to meet with their teachers for extra support, to solve problems and to move confidently through the year. Teachers can become a great ally in finding success in Year 12.
Look up!
Despite the stress that might come with Year 12, there is also much to look forward to. Year 12 is fun if your daughter is encouraged to look up once in a while! There are many exciting events planned, many last rituals and final rites of passage to complete. It is an important year of study, but it is also an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved as your daughter stands on the precipice of adulthood. One day, hopefully, the students will look back and say 2023 was challenging but also packed full of significant memories!
We look forward to walking beside you and your daughter in their final year at Strathcona.
Amber Sowden, Dean of Students.
